Bathrooms are generally equipped with conventional toilet tissue roll holders. These holders are designed to support, display, and provide convenient access to the typical toilet tissue roll. The conventional holder is composed of a telescoping, spring biased, retractable spindle mounted between a pair of posts or brackets that project outwardly from a wall or vertical surface. Bearing sockets are located adjacent to the distal end of each bracket for receiving the opposing ends of the spindle. The toilet tissue roll is supported about the spindle.
The normal bathroom toilet routine is to use dry toilet tissue for cleaning. It has become apparent that this routine is often insufficient to alleviate the elevated concern of personal hygiene and to satisfy the personal needs of many individuals in today's society. Consequently, the need for convenient hand sanitation prior to leaving the toilet is often not satisfied.
To solve these concerns, pre-moistened tissues, wipes and towelettes have become a common consumer product. However, even though pre-moistened tissues, commonly referred to as “wet wipes,” are available, there is no generally accepted or commercially successful dispenser for combining wet wipes or towelettes of any kind and dry toilet tissue on a conventional toilet tissue roll holder intended for personal use. It would be beneficial to have a device that provides a convenient delivery system for a flushable towelette to use on delicate personal areas, as well as to sanitize the hands prior to standing, re-dressing and handling such items as the flush lever, door handle, faucet handles, etc. Such a device would reduce or eliminate the transfer of germs, including Hepatitis A, pathogenic E. Coli and C. Diff., which are known to pass via the fecal-oral route.
Since many towelettes used today are of the pre-moistened kind, it is preferable that they be stored in a container that temporarily protects the wipes from the surrounding atmosphere in order to prevent liquid from evaporating from the tissue, in other words, to prevent the wet wipes from “drying out.” In addition, the dispenser must permit easy access for the user to the wipes so the wipes can be easily dispensed in the desired amount by the user. These requirements present conflicting criteria since the ease of access requirement often requires that at least a portion of the wet wipes be readily accessible to a user without opening the dispenser.
It is also desirable that the dispenser be reusable so that, after all of the towelettes in a given package are used, the dispenser can be readily opened to insert a new supply of towelettes, thereby eliminating the need to purchase a new dispenser with each new supply of towelettes.
Since many towelettes are normally used in the bathroom, it would be further desirable to provide a means for conveniently locating the dispenser in a location such as that provided by the existing tissue roll holder. Such a storage means would provide the user with a convenient choice of dry or moist tissue. This must not interfere with the normal function of the tissue roll holder and yet should be readily connected to the existing conventional structure without the need for tools or special skills. It would be further desirable if the device would be adaptable to a wide variety of dry tissue roll holders and a variety of heights and locations that commonly occur.
The present claimed technology addresses these needs.